Chapter One

Thought and Character

The aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,"
not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to
reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is
literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all
his thoughts.

As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the
seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and
could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts
called "spontaneous" and "unpremeditated" as to those which are deliberately
executed.

Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are
its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his
own husbandry.

Thought in the mind hath made us. What we are
By thought we wrought and built. If a man's mind
Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes
The wheel the ox behind . . . If one endure
In purity of thought, joy follows him
As his own shadow - sure.

Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice,
and cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of
thought as in the world of visible and material things. A noble and Godlike
character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of
continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association
with Godlike thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same
process, is the result of the continued harboring of groveling thoughts.

Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of
thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions
the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and
strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man
ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of
thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two
extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master.

Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which
have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening
or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this - that man is the
master of thought, the molder of character, and maker and shaper of
condition, environment, and destiny.

As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the Lord
of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains
within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may
make himself what he wills.

Man is always the master, even in his weakest and most
abandoned state; but in his weakness and degradation he is the foolish
master who misgoverns his household. When he begins to reflect upon his
condition, and to search diligently for the Law upon which his being is
established, he then becomes the wise master, directing his energies with
intelligence, and fashioning his thoughts to fruitful issues. Such is the
conscious master, and man can only thus become by discovering within
himself the laws of thought; which discovery is totally a matter of
application, self-analysis, and experience.

Only by much searching and mining are gold an diamonds
obtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being if he will
dig deep into the mine of his soul; and that he is the maker of his
character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny, he may
unerringly prove, if he will watch, control, and alter his thoughts, tracing
their effects upon himself, upon others, and upon his life and
circumstances, linking cause and effect by patient practice and
investigation, and utilizing his every experience, even to the most trivial,
everyday occurrence, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of himself which
is Understanding, Wisdom, Power. In this direction, as in no other, is the
law absolute that "He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it
shall be opened"; for only by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity
can a man enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge.